WANDERERS have been given a timely warning of the threat they face from Blackburn Rovers' strike force at the Reebok on Saturday.

Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole both ended their goal drought on the day Turkish World Cup ace Hakan Sukur signed for their Premiership rivals.

Yorke scored either side of a Cole strike as Rovers crushed Rotherham 4-0 to reach the Worthington Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday night.

And manager Graeme Souness said: "I think competition is a very healthy thing and it's the best way to motivate players.

"We've got Andy, Dwight, Hakan, Egil Ostenstad, Matt Jansen and Corrado Grabbi and they are all first-rate.

"There will be pressure on all of them every time they go out there on to the pitch because all they have got to do is look over at the bench and see the quality we've got there.

"They know if they want to keep their place they have to give 100 per cent every time they play and every time they train."

The Worthington Cup gave Blackburn a passport to Europe last term, but Souness admits the competition is still not of his agenda.

"Our priority is staying in the Premier League, that's the number one aim," said the Scot ominously, as his players prepared for the short trip down the A666 this weekend.